Free A Marine's Second Chance: A Marine for You/SEALed for You Crossover Novella by Marissa Dobson Page A

anymore, at one time you loved me,” he said. “We owe it to our child to find that love again.” He took her hand in his and dragged his thumb across her wedding band. “My feelings for you haven’t changed. They’re still the same as the day I put this on your finger. I know I haven’t been the best husband, but let me prove to you that I want you in my life. I can be the man you need me to be. I can be the father to our daughter that she deserves. Don’t give up on me.”
    “We’ve got to go, you need to be at—”
    “Screw it,” he snapped. “Damn it, Wyoming. I love you. I’m an asshole and I don’t deserve you, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want you.”
    Tears filled her eyes and this time she couldn’t blink them away. She wanted things to be different, but wasn’t it too late for them? Did they have a chance to fix whatever was broken between them? Could they do it before the baby was born? She wanted her child to grow up surrounded by love.
    “Don’t cry, baby.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight against his chest. “I never wanted to be the reason you cry. If you don’t love me, I’ll support your decision but—”
    “Damn it, Jeffrey.” Tears came faster and her chest tightened. “Loving you was never the problem. I’ve always loved you.”
    “Then stay.” He loosened his embrace and leaned back so that she could look at him. “Give me time to prove to you that I can be the man you need, and a good father to our child. We’ll make this right. Give me a chance.”
    “It’s not always that easy.” She took him in and tried to decide if he was willing to listen to her, or if he’d shut her out again and close off communication like he always did when she tried to talk to him about something like this. “There’s a wall between us now, and every time I try to breach it, you reinforce it. We never even talk anymore. You always made me laugh but now…” There’s only tears. She couldn’t bring herself to say the last part. It wasn’t only his fault. Maybe she could have done something different, something to get him to open up to her.
    “Give me another chance.” He cupped the side of her face, brushing his thumb along her cheek, wiping away the tears. “The man who made you laugh is still there, just buried, but I can find him again. This deployment is short. I’ll be back before you know it and I’ll prove it to you. Stay, baby.”
    She wanted to believe him. She wanted the man she fell in love with back again. Was it possible? She didn’t know, but she was willing to give it a chance. Maybe she was clinging to her dream of the perfect family, but she believed their son or daughter deserved to have both parents. She wanted the happy family home she’d envied as a child. A mother and father who actually got along, the two and a half kids, and the white picket fence. “I’ll be here when you get back.” She could give him that long and see how things went.
    “Promise?”
    “Yes.” She met his gaze and nodded. After five years of marriage, they deserved this chance. She wasn’t willing to throw away all their time together, their memories, and the love she had for him if he was willing to try. “Now, we should get on the road.”
    “I promise you’re not going to regret this decision.” He pulled her back against him. “I love you, Wyoming. Things are going to be different, I promise.”
    She wrapped her arms around him, returning his embrace. How long had it been since they shared an embrace like that? In her gut, she knew the answer—just before he’d deployed a year ago. Just before the change in him. Since then, any time they held each other, it was short and his body felt stiff. He closed her out. Maybe he’d do it again, but she had to give him the benefit of the doubt that this time would be different. “I love you, too.”

Chapter Two
    T he volunteer deployment had seemed like the perfect opportunity when Jeffrey agreed, but